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Crews work to clear several inches of snow from area highways; bulk of the snowfall is over

Several inches of  snow fell overnight Thursday into early Friday morning for much of Upstate NY, including Western NY and the Finger Lakes.

By Noon on Friday, most warnings and advisories had been canceled by the National Weather Service.

News 8 Meteorologist Josh Nichols says it will be a sloppy commute for some drivers on Friday with snow tapering off  Friday morning. The plows did get a good chance to clear up major highways and roads early Friday, but a number of side roads may still be snow-packed.

Otherwise, Friday will see brisk winds and a high of 37.

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Saturday will see some clouds and some sun along with some flurries, and a high of 40.

And Sunday’s forecast calls for some light snow by evening, mainly south of the Thruway, with a high of 35.

The City of Rochester is asking residents to make sure they follow alternate side of the street parking regulations to make it easier for the snow plows to get down the roads. For more information on policies and procedures in the city during snowstorms, go to:  www.cityofrochester.gov/rocsnow.

In the City of Rochester, Director of Operations Karen St. Aubin says crews were able to get a jump start overnight on snow clearing efforts, partly because the storm arrived as predicted.

“This was very well forecasted, we had people prepared and scheduled to work and scheduled to go on the next shift, so we’re fine.”

St. Aubin says officials are also asking residents follow alternate side of the street parking regulations to help the plows clear the streets.

Some of the heavier snowfall totals were in Ontario County. Commissioner of Public Works in Ontario County, Bill Wright, figures that area got anywhere from 10 to 13 inches of snow.

Although the Thursday evening rush was a challenge for many drivers, Wright he says the timing was good in terms of getting ready for the morning commute on Friday.

“It’s a fairly light snow, there was some heavy snow underneath, but it was fairly light and then the salt worked really well to take it off, so pretty much by drivetime people were pretty much on clear roads and the worst part was getting out of people’s driveways."

Wright also says most area highway departments are well stocked right now with salt for the upcoming winter.

Wayne County Superintendent of Highways Kevin Rooney says it appears they got about a foot of snow. He does ask drivers to please be mindful when they are traveling near the snow plows.

“Give them plenty of room, they can’t stop quick, they can’t see you if you creep up behind them, and make sure everybody brushes off their cars real well, if there’s a foot of snow on top of there it makes it hard if you don’t have good visibility in your vehicle," Rooney told WXXI News.

Check school, business and organization closings here.

Randy Gorbman is WXXI's director of news and public affairs. Randy manages the day-to-day operations of WXXI News on radio, television, and online.